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Tuesday, April 12

Cindi Myers Talks Books

Cindi Myers worked as a newspaper reporter, travel agent and medical clinic manager before turning to writing full time. She's written both historical and contemporary romance, as well as dozens of short stories and nonfiction articles. Cindi thinks writers have the best job in the world. She and her husband and their two dogs live in the mountains Southwest of Denver. When she's not caught up in creating new characters and stories, Cindi enjoys reading, quilting, gardening, skiing and hiking. She's also in demand as a speaker, teaching workshops and making presentations to both local and national writing groups.Thank you for being here, Cindi. The Wordwranglers are thrilled to have you drop by! Your new book sounds fantastic! More about that in a minute, but right now I’m going to get right to the questions I’m dying our readers want to know!

1. How many historicals did you write as Cynthia Sterling? Do you have any intention of doing so again? I wrote 7 – All of them are being re-released by Aspen Mountain Press's Aurora line of regency and historical romances as e-books, under the name Cindi Myers. You can find them all at www.auroraregency.com. I also wrote a new, original western historical for them, A Long Sweet Ride.( http://www.auroraregency.com/alongsweetride.php) I am playing around with ideas for more western historicals, I've enjoyed working on these stories so much.

2. How many books a year do you put out? It depends. I usually write three or four a year, depending on my contracts.

3. You write for more than one line, HQ Superromance and Blaze, for two. Do you prefer one over the other? Any other line you’re dying to write for? I've really enjoyed all the different lines I've written for. My favorites were probably the comedies I did for Flipside and the women's fiction books I wrote for Next. Sadly, both those lines are no more. Right now I'm actually not under contract to anyone. I would LOVE to write for Harlequin Historical.

4. How many books did you write before you got “the call”? Did you later sell those books? I wrote 10 complete manuscripts before I got the call. I did go on to sell all but 2 or 3 of those earlier manuscripts, sometimes in slightly different forms.

5. Do you currently contract for more than one book at once? In other words, are you ever on deadline for a Superromance and Blaze at the same time? How do you manage your time? I was usually under contract for more than one book at the same time, with staggered deadlines, so I'd write a Blaze, then a Super. So it's a different feeling with no contracted deadlines.

6. What advice do you have for the unpublished trying to break in? Is there any one specific piece of advice you would give them? Don't give up. Sometimes it can take a while to find the write market for your work. Keep writing and experimenting with different types of stories. You never know what's going to hit.

7. Most people know you send out weekly market news. How much time does it take you to research it? www.cindimyersmarketnews.wordpress.com I spend a couple hours a week on the market updates, sometimes more. Has it increased your readership? Hard to tell, although I like to think it has. And it's certainly given me name recognition in the industry. I know a lot of people read it and I've heard from people that it's helped them, so that's gratifying.

8. What do you have coming out next? Aurora Regency Romance (an imprint of Aspen Mountain Press) is re-releasing my Titled Texans Trilogy. The books were originally published by Kensington in 2000: Nobility Ranch, Educating Abbie and The Runaway will be released in May, June and July.

9. What’s the best fan encounter you’ve ever had? What about the worst?

I have gotten some truly wonderful letters from fans. Two that stand out were 1) a young woman who is a military wife wrote to thank me for writing A Soldier Comes Home. She said it was really true to the kinds of problems military families face. And 2) a young man said he'd picked up The Father For Her Son in France on a business trip and was moved to tears by my sensitive portrayal of a gay couple who adopt a little boy. He had never read characters like him in a book before and wanted to thank me. Those are the letters writers live for. As for bad fan encounters, I really can't think of any. My fans have been great!

10. If you weren’t a writer, what would you be? ooh, tough question. Maybe a park ranger or a naturalist – something outdoors having to do with nature. Or a historian. I sometimes wish I'd studied history in school instead of business.

Here's an excerpt from Cindi's "A Willing Spirit":

Texas, 1855

The dried peas rattled in the crockery bowl with a sound like hail on a tin roof. Tessa Bright frowned, thinking of the holes that needed patching in her own shelter, and the hundred other chores that were more than one woman alone could see to. Especially not a woman with one arm in a cast. She balanced the bowl awkwardly on her knees, and began sorting through the peas for rocks and dirt. "If you really want to help me out, Will, could you see about finding me a hired man?" She raised her head and addressed the empty air. "Are you listening, Will?"

"I'm listening." The porch swing beside her wobbled with the weight of someone settling into the seat and a chill breeze swept over her. In spite of the summer heat, she shivered. She was never going to get used to that -- the way Will was so cold all the time now. Of course, the whole situation wasn't really the sort of thing anyone ever got used to, was it? What woman expected her husband to die and come back as a ghost?

"Well? Can you do anything to help?" She glanced down the long drive that led to the road. Not that she got a lot of visitors out this way, but if anyone were to come by and see her having a conversation with thin air, they'd likely want to send her off to the mad house. Most of the folks in town already thought she was a few bricks shy of a full load.

"I'm working on it." Though she couldn't see him, Will's voice was as familiar to her as his face had ever been. He had a beautiful voice: low, with a hint of gravel in the throat. Hearing it now, without the comfort of his physical presence, brought a hollow ache to her chest, a different kind of hole that couldn't be mended with mere tarpaper and tin. "I don't want just any man to take my place," he said.

She shifted the bowl, trying to get a better grip. "I don't want another husband, Will." She was just getting used to looking out for herself. Why complicate matters by trying to start over with another man? "I just need someone temporary, until my arm heals." She scowled at the plaster cast on her left forearm, as if it were personally responsible for all her troubles. Maybe if she'd had help to doctor that gelding, she wouldn't be in such a fix now.

"You need someone to look after you and this place, the way I did," Will said. "Someone upstanding and respectable, who can help you make friends in town."

"I just need someone useful." She nodded. "Someone who knows about horses and doesn't drink too much. Someone young enough to be strong. . . but not too handsome."

Hi Cindi~ Just loooove the excerpt! Now I need a copy for myself . After here, I'm signing up for your market updates too, btw. Wow, 10 manuscripts before you were signed. How did you keep your motivation up??

Hi D'Ann~ Thank you for having Cindi here. She motivates me to the Nth degree.

Great interview, D'nn. I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to all of your authors. Cindi, thanks for all your wonderful information and what an excellent premise for your book! Sounds like a great read.

I do have a further question. I'm a newbie writer, unpublished, and gathering opinions on how to proceed. My question is, in the industry today, is it more advantageous to epublish or self-publish, to help generate name recognition, before you seek an agent?

Sorry it took me so long to find my way over here. Thanks for much to D'anne for inviting me. I'll try to answer questions:

Kristi -- I definitely think e-publishing is a much bigger force in publishing. I know a lot of established print published authors who are turning to e-publishing for their back lists and new material too. Readers are finding out how convenient ebooks are, and what a great variety of books are available. I think the market will only grow.

Sheri,I'm just a really stubborn person, I guess. I've wanted to be a writer since I was 8 and couldn't imagine myself ever doing anything else. I got plenty discouraged sometimes, but I always came back to it. I have to tell stories.

Jenna,I think the answer to your question is "it depends." I think it's really hard for a self-published new author to find an audience. But I do think a legitimate e-publisher can help. For one thing, e-publishers have editors that can help you get your work in shape to publish. Every book benefits from editing and the e-pub editors I've met have been very good. Being able to show good sales in e-publishing can definitely help get an agent's attention.

Hello and great reading. Thanks for inviting me D'Ann. Help in this business is always good. And you are right about e-pub editors. They can be rough if they think you are slacking off. Getting those edit lists always make you cringe in dread. LOL It was nice meeting you and thanks to D'Ann I made it.Betty Womack

Cindi~I can't thank you enough for coming by today. I have been a subscriber of your newsletter forever. I cannot wait to read this book. Payday, I'm getting my copy. Don't forget that ride, or lunch....or both.